Garage door opener



GARAGE DOOR MOPENER iled Dec. 18, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept.'l5, 1931.F. BOUCHER GARAGE DOOR OPENER Filed Dec. 18. 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept.15, 1931. F. BOUCHER GARAGE DOOR OPENER Filed Dec. 18, 1930 5Sheets-Sheet 3 anouwgo.

QW WW Sept. 15, 1931. F. BOUCHER GARAGE DOOR OPENER Filed Dec. 18. 19501 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 IIIIIIIII IIIIIIII Frank Bum-her;

I. .II II II Ill 4/.

Sept. 15, 1931. BQUCHER 1,822,951

GARAGE DOOR OPENER Filed Dec. 18, 1930' 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Sept.15, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFECE FRANK BQU'GHER, OF DETRGIT,MICHIGAN GARAGE DOOR OPENER This invention aims to provide means wherebythe doors of a garage or other building may be opened and closed by anautomobile, means being provided whereby one door can be opened andclosed by a person on the ground, either inside the garage, or outsideof it.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and toenhance the utility of devices of that type to which the in ventionappertains.

YVith the above and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 shows, in vertical longitudinal section, a garage in which thedevice forming the subject matter of this application has been mounted;

Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detail enlarged from Figure i 1., some parts being insection;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional View of the rider, attendant partsappearing in plan, the view being taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 3; I

Figure 5 is a bottom plan of one of the door-operating bars, parts beingbroken away, and the parts being in section;

Figure 6 is a vertical section on the line 6-6 of Figure 3;

Figure 7 is a side elevation of the carriage;

Figure 8 is a vertical section of the carriage;

Figure 9 is a plan of the movable tracks and attendant parts Figure 10is a horizontal section of the structure depicted in Figure 9;

Figure 11 is a section on the line 11-11 of Figure 9;

Figure 12 is a section on, the line 12-12 of Figure 9;

a section on the line 1t'14c a section a section on the line 16-16 asection on the line 1717 a section on the line 18- 18 a section on theline 191 9 a section on theline 2020" of Figure 3;

Figure 21 is a section of Flgure 3;

Figure 22 is a vertical section through one on the line 21-21 of thedoors, and showing the mechanism which makes possible the hand-actuationof the said door, at the will of an operator;

Figure 23 is a section onthe line 2323 of Figure 22.

In Figures 1, 2 and 3, the numeral 1 designates a garage or otherbuilding, having doors 2 and 3 which are hinged to swing horizontally.

On the floor of the garage 1 are mounted loop-shaped end guides 4(Figures 9 and 11), one of these guides being located'withinjthe garage,and the other of the said guides being located without the garage, asFigure 1 will show. Referringto Figures 11 and 12, it

can be seen that the end guides 4 rest on base plates 6. Lower spacers 7are mounted on the bottom portions of the end guides 4:, and upperspacers 5 are secured to the top portions of the end guides. The outeror remote ends of arched casings 8 rest on the lower spacers 7. Securingelements 9 pass downwardly through the said endsof the caslngs 8,through the lower spacers 7, through the bottom portions of the endguides 4, and through the base plates 6, into the floor of the garage 1,as shown in Figures 11 and 12. Spacers 10 are interposed between theadjacent or inner ends of the casings 8 and the floor of the garage 1(Figure 12) Securing elements 11 connect the adjacent or-inner ends onthe line 1313 on the line 15-15 "55 of the casings 8 and the spacers 10,with the floor of the garage 1.

Beneath the crown of each casing 8 is located a vertical shaft 12 havingits lower end only serve as guards for the pinions 16, but

they function as lifting members for certain moving parts, and ascarriage stops, an observation which w ll be morec ea 'ly d stood whenthe reading of this specification has progressed considerably beyond thepresent point.

Comparing Figures 9 and 13, intermediate guides 18 are secured to thegarage floor, as is also a center guide '19, which is shown in crosssection in Figure 14.

The parts 4, 18 and 19 are called guides, because slides and 21 haveparallel, right line movement in them The relation of the slides 20 and21 to the garage 1 is shown in Eig-uresl and 2 Figure 9 and Figure 10show them on a larger scale, and Figures 11, 13 and 14 make it evidentthat the slides are channel members. The slides 20 and 21 are held aparttransversely, for right line sliding movement,

by the spacers 5 and 7 of Figures 11 and 12, and by the spacer 10. Thevertical walls of the slides 20 and 21 have racks 22 wherewith thepinions 16 mesh, reference being had especially to the left hand end ofFigure 10.

' Oppositely-projecting, horizontally-operating cam blocks 23 and 24(Figure 9)are secured (Figure 13) to the bottoms of the intermediateguides 18, the cam blocks 23 being disposed at the inner edge of theslide 20, and the cam block 24 being disposed at the inner edge of theslide 21. InfFigure 10, there is shown a horizontal projection 25 on theslide 20,, the said projection being located a little behind the backendof the cam block 23'. On the slide 20, there is a similar projection26., disposed slightly to the rear of the forward end of the cam block23. The slide 21 has a projection 27 which is placed a short distancein. front of the rear end of the cam block 24, and the slide 21 has aprojection 28 located slightly in advance of the forward end of the camblock 24.

A flexible element 29 (Figures 9. v 2 and 1) is connected to the rearend of the slide 21. A. flexible element 30 is connected to the rear endofthe slide 20. The flexible elements 29 and 30 pass upwardly overpulleys 31 secured to the rear end of'the garage 1, near to the floor,

and from the pulleys 31, the flexible elements pass upwardly andforwardly over pulleys '32 which are. mounted on the rear wall of thegarage 1,near to the roof of the garage. The

flexible element 30 is carried over a pulley 33 (Figures 1 and 3), andis extended backwardly, the pulley 33 being mounted on a post 34 thatextends downwardly from the roof of the garage. The post 34 may besustained by horizontal braces 35 (Figures 1 and 2) connected at theirforward ends to the roof of the garage, or elsewhere.

Behind the post 34 are two rigid vertical depending hangers 36 (Figures1 and 3), and the forward hanger abuts against the post 34. Thehangers38 support parallel horizontal tracks 37, on which is mounted, for

horizontal straight line movement, a rider 38, the rider being U-shapedin side elevation (Fig-ure 3), and U-shaped in end elevation (Figure 6).Grooved wheels 39 are journaled on the rider 38 and move between thetracks 37. Depending from the intermediate portion of the rider 38 is astud bolt 40 (Figure 3). The inner ends of the pull springs 41 areconnected to the stud bolt 40., and therefore tov the rider 38, Theouterend of one of the pull springs 41 is connected to the flexibleelement 29, and the outer end of the other pull springis connected tothe ficx; le element 30, behind th Pull y Referring to Figure 2, it isevident that the device comprises forwardly extended, divergingconnections 42 and 4 3, in the form of bars. The forward end of theconnection 43 is pivoted at 44 to a block '45 on the inner surface ofthe door 3. At their rear ends (Figure 3) the bars 42 and 43 haveflattened extensions 46 that are overlapped on each other and pivoted tothe rider 38, by means of the depending stud bolt 40.

The connection between the bar 42 and the door 2 is of a somewhat morecomplicated make-up than the simple pivot 44 (Figure 2) that joins thebar 43 to the door 3, the 0021* struction now to be explained beingdesirable in order that a person may open the door 2 by hand.

Figure 22 shows, in connection with Fig ure 1, that there is ahorizontal upper bracket 47 and a horizontal lower bracket 48 on the;inner surface of the door 2 there being a hole 49 in the door 2, belowthe bracket 48. A bushing 50 (Figure 23) is held by a pin 51 in thebracket 47'. In the bushing- 50 and in the lower bracket 48, a verticallatch rod 52 is mounted for straight-line movement. The latch rod 52 hasa shoulder 53, and a compression spring 54 is interposed between the andoutwardly through the hole 49, so that the handle can be grasped eitherfrom the inside of the door 2, or from the outside of the door, to pullthelatcli 52 sown. On the upper end (Figure 22) of the bushing 50 ispivoted a link 56, mounted to slide (Figure 3) in the guides 57 located(Figure 5) on the lower edge of the bar The rear end of the link 56 isreceived between guard plates 58 (Figures 3 and secured to the bar ordoor connection 42. The upper end 59 (Figures 3 and 22) of the latch 52is received in a keeper 60 which is mounted in the forward portion ofthe bar 42. The forward end of the bar 42 is beveled, and carries ametal wear plate 61, leading back to the keeper 60.

A carriage 62 is mounted to move on the slides 21 and 20, and in thisconnection, note Figures 7, 8, 15 and 16 of the drawings.

The carriage 62 is provided at its ends with axles 63, whereo-n arejournaled vertical wheels 64 that roll along the lower flanges of theslides 21 and 20. The carriage 62 is provided near to one end and at itsupper edge, and near to the opposite end and at its lower edge, withhorizontal rollers 65 which are adapted to cooperate with the verticalwalls of the slides 26 and 21, as shown in Figure 15.

As disclosed in Figures 7 and 17 pickup members 67 and 68 are mounted toslide horizontally in the carriage 62, crosswise of the carriage. Theworking end of the pick-up 68 (Figure 17) cooperates with theprojections 25 and 26 (Figure 10) of the slide 26, and the working endof the pick-up 67 cooperates with the projections 27 and 28 of the slide21. A U-shaped carrier 69 (Figure 17 is slidable on the pickup 68 andhas in its lower portion, a depending projection 70, in the form of aroller. On the pick-up 68 there is an abutment 71. A compression spring72 is interposed between the abutment 71 and one side of the carriage62. A compression spring 73 is interposed between the opposite side ofthe carriage 62 and the adjacent end of the carrier 69. The pick-upmember 67 is corr spondingly arranged, saving for the fact that itsspring 72 acts to the left instead of to the right as in Figure 17, thespring 73 acting to the right instead of to the left as in Figure 17, anobservation which will be understood readily when it is recalled thatthe working ends of the pick-up members 67 and 68 are on opposite sidesof the carriage 62. The numeral 7 4 in Figures 7 and 8 designatesprojection or roller, corresponding to the roller 7 O of Figure 17.

An upstanding operating member or lever 7 5 is pivoted at 76 (Figures 18and 8), at its lower end, on the intermediate portion of the carriage62, to swing parallel to the line of advance of the carriage. The leverhas a vertically adjustable extension 77 held in place by a cotter pin78 (Figure 19) adapted to be mounted in any one of a plurality of holes79 (Figure 8) in the lever 75.

Oppositely extended braces 80 and 81 are pivoted at 91 to the lever 75,the brace 80 having a downwardly curved end 82, and the brace 81 havinga downwardly curved end 83. The brace 81 has a depending shoulder 84adapted to cooperate with a keeper 85 on the carriage62. The brace 80has a depend ing shoulder 86 adapted to cooperate with Suppose that thedoors 2 and 3 of the garage 1 are closed, the carriage 62 being in thecondition of Figure 7, aside from the fa ct that the curved end 83 ofthe brace 81 has ridden up on the casing 8 (Figure 12) that is disposedadjacent to the end guide 4 that is located outside of the garage, asshown at the right end of Figures 1 and 20f the drawings. The carriage62, at this time, is outside the garage 1 and has come to a stop againstthe left hand end of the casing 8 (Figure 12).

The pick-up member 67 of Figure 7, corresponding to the pick-up member68 of Figure 17, has been advanced by its spring 7 2, until the workingend of the pick-up member 67 is between the projections 27 and 28 ure10) of the slide 21, and is engaged with 3 the edge of the projection28, the projection 27 at this time being considerably to the right ofthe cam block 24, and not in the position shown in Figure 10.

The front axle of the automobile is marked by the numeral in Figure 1,although the ferent from that which it will assume at the step in theoperation now under dlscussion.

The front axle 100, being without the garage I 1, engages the extension77 of the lever 75,

on the carriage 62, the lever being held against swinging to the left inFigure 7, because the shoulder 86 on the brace 80 is engaged with thekeeper 87 on the carriage 62. Theauto moves the carriage 62 to the leftin Figure 1, and the slide '21 of Figure 10 is moved to the left also,as soon as the pick-up 67 on the carriage 62 engages the right hand edgeof the projection 27 on the slide 21. As

the slide 21 moves to the left in Figure 10, the slide 20 is moved tothe right, because the slides are operatively connected through theracks 22.

As the slide 21 moves to the left, the flexile element 29, which isconnected to the slide 21, is slacked away, and the rider 38 of Figure 3is permitted to move to the right in Figure 3, along the tracks 37. Therider 38 moves to the right, as aforesaid, under the action of theflexible element 30, which is pulled upon when the slide 20, to which itis con nected, moves to the right.

As the rider 38 moves to the right, and i axle, in that figure, is in aposition quite dif- 'tio instrumentality of the pinions 16 and theassumes the position of Figure 3, the connections 42 and 43 are,advanced, to the ,position of Figure 2, the connection 42 opening thedoor 2, and the connection 43 opening the door 3.

As the carriage 62 moves to the left in Figure 10, its depending roller74 (Figure 7) rides on the cam block 24 of Figure 10. (Here note Figure17 for the construction of the roller 74, that roller corresponding toroller 7 0 of the pick-up 68.) When the roller 74 of the pick-up 67moves to the left in Figure 10, over the cam block 24, the carrier 69cooperates with the abutment 71', compressing the spring 72, and slidingthe pick-up 67 from between the projections 27 and 28 of Figure 10, theroller 74 moving over to the left of the projection 27 in Figure 10. Thecarriage 62 now is freed from the slide 21, the slide 21 no longer moveswith the carriage 62, as the carriage 62 is propelled into the garage,along with the auto. As the carriage 62 is moved into the garage by theauto, the wheels 64 of the carriage roll along the lower flanges of theslides 20 and 21, as indicated in Figures 15 and 16.

When the auto is in the garage 1, the projection or roller 70 (Figure17) on the pickup 68 rides over the cam 23 of Figure 10, and this movesthe pick-up 68 to the left in Figure 17, and when the roller 7 0 isclear of the cam 23, the spring 72 reacts and moves the pick-up 68 tothe right in Figure 17, so that the working end of the picleup 68-isbetween the projection 25 and 26 of the slide 20 in Figure 10, and theworking end of the pick-up 68 engages the right hand edge of theprojection 25. The slide 20 is carried to the left in Figure 10, and theslide 21 is carried to the right, because the slides are connected,through the racks 22 and the pinions 16. When the slide 20 moves to theleft,

the flexible element 30 (Figure 1) is slackedoff, and the flexibleelement 29, which is connected to the slide 21, is pulled upon, as theslide 21 moves to the right. This operation moves the rider 38 to theleft in Figure 1, and the connections 42 and 43 of Figure 2 close thedoors 2 and 3 behind the auto, which is now in the garage.

The axle 100 of the auto is to the right of the lever 757 7 of thecarriage 62, as shown in Figure 1, but, ultimately, therounded end 82(Figure 7) of the brace 80 rides up on the casing 8 that is adjacent tothe end guide 4 shown within the garage, at the left end of Figure 1,Figure 12 being noted at this point, so that the construction underdiscussion can be readily recalled. As the rounded end 82 of the brace80 rides on the casing 8, the

brace is raised so that its shoulder 86 is above the keeper 87 of Figure7, the lever 7577 tilting to the left, so as to enable the axle 100 ofthe auto (Figure 1) to move to the left of the lever 7577 on thecarriage 62. As

soon as this occurs, the right hand spring 89 in Figure 7 reacts, erectsthe lever 7 5-77 and restores the parts 8485 and 86-87 to the positionof Figure 7, the lever 7577 being held rigidly in place, so as to movethe carriage 62 to the right in Figure 1, as soon as the auto is startedout of the garage.

When the auto moves out of the garage, the operation hereinbeforedescribed is reversed, the doors first being opened, to let the auto outof the garage, and then being closed behind the auto, after it is out ofthe garage. Since what takes place when the auto leaves the garage is amere reversal of What takes place when the auto enters the garage, thereis no occasion for commenting at length upon this step, it beingnecessary, merely, to state that when the auto moves out of the garage,the projections 26 and 28 (Figure 10), instead of the projections 25 and27, are the parts that do the work.

Attention is directed to the fact that the slides 20 and 21 not onlyform part of the means for opening and closing the doors 2 and 3, butalso afford a track on which the carriage 62 moves. The members 20 and21 therefore exercise a double function, and make it unnecessary for thebuilder to supply a special track for the carriage 62 to travel upon.

The springs 41 of Figure 1 take up sudden shocks and prevent the doors 2and 3 from being slammed open or slammed shut. The adjustment affordedat 78797576 in Figure 8 effects a change in the length of the carriagelever, so that it will cooperate with auto axles of difierent heights.

Refer to Figures 3, 1 and 22. If the operator wishes to open the door 2by hand, he pulls down the latch rod 52 by means of the handle 55, sothat the upper end 59 of the latch rod is not engaged in the keeper 60of the door-operating bar 42. The door 2 then can be swung open by hand,the link 56 moving to the right in Figure 2, in the guides 57. When theoperator shuts the door 2, the link 56 slides back in the guides 57, theend 59 of the latch rod'52 rides under the wear-plate 61 on the end ofthe bar 42, and the end 59 of the latch rod engages again in the keeper60 of the bar 42, under the upward thrust of the spring 54 of Figure 22.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a device of the class described, a door mounted for movementbetween open and closed positions, a pair of slides mounted for relativeright line reciprocation in parallel relation,means for connecting oneslide to the door to open the door, means for connecting the other slideto the door to close the door, a first mechanism for connecting theslides operatively together, to cause them to move in oppositedirections, when either slide is actuated, a carriage movablelongitudinally of the slides and having a vehicle-engaging part, and asecond mechanism actuated by the movement of the carriage longitudinallyof the slides for coupling the carriage first to one slide and then tothe other slide.

2. A device of the class described, c011- structed as set forth in claim1, and further characterized by the fact that said first mechanismcomprises racks on the slides, and a pinion supported for rotation andmeshing with the slides.

3. A device of the class described, constructed as set forth in claim 1,and further characterized by the fact that the slides serve as a trackon which the carriage moves and is supported.

4. A device of the class described, constructed as set forth in claim 1,and further characterized by the fact that the means for connecting theslides to the door comprises a rider, means for mounting the rider forreciprocation, a connection between the rider and the door, flexibleelements connected, respectively, tothe slides, and connected to therider, and means for supporting the flexible elements, so that theyoperate as a loop.

5. A device of the class described, constructed as set forth in claim 1,and further characterized by the fact that said vehicleengaging part isa lever pivotally mounted on the carriage, oppositely extended bracespivoted to the lever and engaged with the carriage to hold the leverupright, means engageable with the braces to disengage them one at atime from the carriage and to permit the lever to tilt as the carriageapproaches the limits of its travel, and yieldable means for erectingthe lever and restoring the braces to engagement with the carriage, whenthe carriage is moved away from said means for disengaging the bracesfrom the carriage.

6. A device of the class described, constructed as set forth in claim 1,and further characterized by the fact that said second mechanismembodies projections on the slides, pick-up members mounted forreciprocation in the carriage, spring means cooperating with thepick-ups to advance them for engagement with the projections, and fixedcams wherewith portions of the pick-ups engage, as the carriage isreciprocated, to retract the pick-ups against the action of said springmeans.

7. A device of the class described, c011- structed as set forth in claim1, and further characterized by the fact that the means for connectingthe slides to the door embodies a releasable mechanism under the controlof an operator, whereby the operator may open the door independently ofthe slides.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixedmy signature.

FRANK BOUGHER.

